Ephesians 6: Fight With All the Weapons of God

Introduction

“Fight!” Samuel Mabboux, pastor at Assemblée de Dieu de Nice Ariane, makes it clear right away that he is not talking about the way of the world: “We are not rebels, we are submitted to the word of God.” The fight the Lord invites us into is spiritual, not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual enemies.

He takes a well-known passage, Ephesians 6:10-18, and looks at it from a fresh angle. What he sees grieves him: many Christians love the Lord with all their heart and are saved, yet they “endure their Christian life,” because they do not take hold of the weapons God has put within their reach. When trials come, they let go and lose heart.

The message is a call to leave passivity behind. The pastor says it from the start: this sermon is for him first, because he too needs to fight more with the weapons God gives him.

Outline of the Message

1. Be Strong: It Is Up to You to Take Hold of the Weapons

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Ephesians 6:10). Sometimes we wait for the Lord to strengthen us, for it to just fall on us. The pastor believes the opposite: it is up to us to be active in seeking the Lord’s weapons and being clothed with power from on high.
“We are weak by nature,” but the Lord wants to fill our weakness and make us strong with his strength. It is in him that we have strength.
“Have you put on the weapons of God?” They may still be sitting there, brand new and shining, but you are not using them.
The text says “all the weapons of God,” not just one. “Yes, but I pray. Yes, but I read the Bible.” No: all the weapons, to stand firm in the difficult moments that are coming and that are already here.
The devil is cunning. He knows God’s weapons and can even grab them to twist them and use them against us. Hence the Lord’s word to Joshua: “Be strong and courageous” (Joshua 1:9).

2. You Are Already in a Spiritual Battle

When we give our life to the Lord, when we go through the waters of baptism, we enter a spiritual battle, “necessarily, instantly.” We change sides: we leave the darkness and “the prince of the power of the air” to come to Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:2).
“Whether you want it or not, whether you are aware of it or not,” you are in the battle. And if you are in a battle without realizing it, “it is going to be rough.”
The pastor is thinking of the one who may be the only believer in their family, or who is going through hard times at work: be strong.
We do not fight against flesh and blood (Ephesians 6:12). Behind political or military issues, there is something spiritual: dominions, authorities, evil spirits that fight against the advance of the Church.
You do not fight spirits the way you fight tanks or drones. Jericho was not taken with weapons, but with the ark of the covenant and trumpets (Joshua 6). In the ark, the manna speaks of God’s faithfulness, the tablets of the law of his Word, and Aaron’s rod that budded again of his covenant (Hebrews 9:4).
“We are not in heaven yet.” In heaven, we will throw down our crowns and our weapons, and we will be able to relax. But this is not the time: your life, your soul, is precious, and the darkness wants to draw you in.

3. Weapons Suited to the Fight

The pastor describes an advertisement in which a knight goes off to war with a plastic sword, a child’s toy. “The Lord does not give you fake weapons,” cut off from spiritual realities. He gives you the weapons suited to your fight.
“Even you in your loneliness, even you in your desert, even you if you are alone, you have God’s weapons, and they are enough.”
He says it with great love: “Your good will is not enough.” And he goes further: “Your love for the Lord is not enough to keep holding on to him.” You have to take up the spiritual weapons.
Without them, your Christian life could turn into one bad day after another. There will be tribulations, but “cheer up! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The Christian life is not a calm, flowing river; the difference is that we have God’s weapons.
“Put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 13:14) and “put on the new self” (Ephesians 4:24): it is the Lord himself we must put on.
Sometimes you must not wait for victory, you must take it. “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies” (Psalm 23:5): the table is set, the meal is ready. Open the Bible, close your bedroom door, get on your knees, put on some worship.

4. God Fights With You, but Not Without You

“Sunday is not a fight, it is a celebration.” The fight is carried out in prayer. That is why the pastor insists on the Wednesday prayer meeting, even on Champions League nights.
Paul tells Timothy: “Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of eternal life” (1 Timothy 6:12).
God does not fight in place of his people, he fights with them. He does “95% of the fight,” it is his power that makes the difference. Our part, the 5%, is to take hold of the weapons and go to battle. And he goes ahead of us, like a father who says: “Let me go first.”
What happens in your spiritual life also depends on your hunger and your thirst. The Lord wants you to be an actor in your spiritual life, not a spectator.
Facing Goliath, for forty days, all Israel trembles and runs away (1 Samuel 17:10-11, 16, 24). The enemy makes noise and gestures wildly because he knows the fight is lost in advance. “He will do everything he can to keep you from fighting.”
David stands up: “Yahweh who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:37). He does not come in his own name, but “in the name of Yahweh of Armies” (1 Samuel 17:45). He turned down the king’s armor and sword, but he went in with the spiritual weapons.

5. Your Prayer Is Not in Vain

“Your fight is going to change things.” The enemy wants you to believe your prayer is useless: “You have been praying for 20 years, and nothing has changed.” Do not listen to the devil’s lies.
For your children, when the situation gets worse as you pray: “Keep going, pray even more. Pray twice as much. Pray all night. Pray on your knees if you have to.”
The pastor even goes as far as saying: “I believe we can change God’s will by our prayers and by spiritual warfare.” Pray, fast, praise, intercede, bend the knee at home.
Before the destruction of Sodom, God does not want to hide anything from his friend Abraham, who intercedes: fifty, forty, thirty, ten righteous people (Genesis 18:17-32).
In front of the golden calf, God speaks of destroying the people and starting over with Moses. Moses intercedes, he uses God’s weapons, and God shows mercy (Exodus 32).

6. The Belt, the Breastplate, the Shoes, the Shield, and the Helmet

There are defensive weapons, like the armor, the shield, and the helmet, and one offensive weapon, the sword. As in soccer, “the best defense is a good offense”: you cannot just take hits, you also have to return them spiritually.
The belt of truth. In Paul’s day, men wore long tunics; without a belt, the folds flew in every direction and you could trip. Truth brings order back to our thoughts and leaves no room for lies or hidden things. In the Church, in families and in couples: “Without truth, there is nothing.” Every man is deceitful, but God always tells the truth (Psalm 116:11).
The breastplate of righteousness. It protects us against the accuser of the brothers. At the start of his ministry, the pastor was shaken: “But Samuel, you? Look at what you have done.” Today he answers: “I know I am not worthy, it is by grace alone. And my sins, if the Lord has forgotten them, it is not for you to remind me of them.”
The readiness that comes from the Gospel of peace. The Gospel gives us peace and lets us know the things that are to come. “Do not be surprised, it is written.” The pastor invites us to discern the times we are living in.
The shield of faith. It does not just stop the flaming darts of the evil one, it puts them out. The Lord has given us authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19): “Stop being crushed.”
The helmet of salvation. In extreme cold (the pastor once skied in a wind chill of -45 degrees), the body pulls blood away from the fingers and toes to protect the heart and the brain. We too must watch over our heart and our thoughts, because pride, anger, and violence start in the mind. We must bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

7. The Sword of the Spirit: Knowing the Word

The enemy began to twist the word of God as early as the Garden of Eden: “Has God really said?” (Genesis 3:1). The devil often knows the Word better than we do, “because to twist something, you still have to know the original.”
He even quoted Psalm 91 to Jesus to tempt him (Matthew 4:6). If he dared to tempt the Son of God, he will also try to twist things between brothers and sisters: “He didn’t say hello to you this morning.”
Hence the pastor’s appeal: “If a brother has hurt you, go to him.” And for himself: “If I have hurt you, come and see me. I will ask your forgiveness and we will hug.” The truth must reign.
“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7), but you have to resist him with knowledge of the Word. He mentions those Bible verse contests in the United States, where one person names a reference and the other recites the text by heart.
The Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth, helps you remember and recall the Word. When the enemy tells you that you already asked for forgiveness yesterday, answer that he is a liar: the Lord forgives.
The problem is that we want to reap without plowing, sowing, or watering; answers without asking; victories without a fight. “Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you” (Matthew 7:7-8).
In his closing prayer, the pastor does not ask for the weapons: “We already have them. We ask you to give us the courage to take hold of them.”

Key Takeaways

Being strong in the Lord does not mean waiting passively: the weapons are available, and it is up to you to take hold of them.
As soon as you give your life to Jesus, you enter a spiritual battle, whether you are aware of it or not.
Your good will and even your love for the Lord are not enough: you need all the weapons of God, not just one.
God does the essential part of the fight, but he does not fight without you. Your prayer is never in vain.
The enemy has been twisting the Word since Eden: you have to know it to answer him, and let the truth reign between brothers and sisters.

Personal Application

In what area are you enduring your Christian life instead of being strong in the Lord?
Which of God’s weapons has stayed “brand new and shining” in your life, unused?
For what situation have you stopped praying because nothing was changing? What do you want to take up again this week?
Is there a brother or sister you need to go and see so that truth reigns between you?
What specific time can you set aside for prayer, the Word, and worship, the way you take up your weapons before a fight?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

What does “be strong in the Lord” mean in Ephesians 6:10?

For Samuel Mabboux, it does not mean waiting passively for strength to fall on us. We are weak by nature, but the Lord wants to make us strong with his mighty strength. The weapons are already available: it is up to us to take hold of them, open the Bible, get on our knees, and praise.

Why do you need to take all the weapons of God and not just one?

The text says “all the weapons of God.” Praying or reading the Bible is not enough if you neglect the rest. The devil is cunning, he knows God’s weapons and can even twist them against us. Truth, righteousness, readiness, faith, salvation, and the Word are given together so that we can stand firm.

When does a Christian enter the spiritual battle?

As soon as they give their life to the Lord. The preacher explains that by becoming a child of God, you change sides: you leave the darkness for the light and declare war on the devil. Whether you are aware of it or not, you are already in the battle. Without realizing it, you do not arm yourself and end up losing heart.